Retail locations execute sales transactions using point-of-sale (“POS”) terminals, such as cash registers. Some POS terminals additionally track purchases made and adjust a database of store inventory accordingly. Some POS systems print advertisements and/or consumer information on the sales receipt, or display advertisements and/or consumer information on an auxiliary display.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,401,074 to Sleeper, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes an augmented POS system that, during a retail transaction, displays and may broadcast promotional information to a customer selected on the basis of the context of the transaction. An existing front-end POS system is augmented with an auxiliary display device intended for viewing by a customer while the customer interacts with the sales clerk in order to conduct a retail transaction. Software components are added to the point of sale system in order to generate messages corresponding to events that occur during the transaction and to, in turn, translate those events into display images displayed on the auxiliary display device. The auxiliary display device can display text, broadcast music or audio information, show video clips and other real-time dynamic media, and display static images.
US Patent Application Publication 2004/0103570 to Ruttenberg, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a three-dimensional advertising display and method of use. The advertising display includes a structure and a plurality of sides that cooperatively form an advertising display. At least one side of the plurality of sides includes an electronic panel display and at least one side of the plurality of sides includes at least one printed advertisement. A triangular structure is preferred.
US Patent Application Publication 2003/0083936 to Mueller et al., which is incorporated herein by reference, describes techniques for receiving order information based on an order of a customer, and determining an offer for the customer based on the order information and at least one of a genetic program and a genetic algorithm. The techniques transform data from a plurality of data sources into genetic codes or “synthetic” DNA. The DNA is then used within an artificial biological environment, which is replicated. For example, each transaction may be analogized to an individual (species) in a population. When transactions are proven successful under certain environmental conditions (e.g., particular cashier or customer, time of day, day of week, certain store configuration, whether the destination is drive through or dine in, customer demographics), the success is propagated. By culling unsuccessful transactions from the synthetic ecosystem, the described techniques can help eliminate undesirable transactions. Conversely, the described techniques can encourage the propagation of successful transactions, which drives incremental performance improvements.
US Patent Application Publication 2006/0235755 to Mueller et al., which is incorporated herein by reference, describes techniques in which a price associated with a menu item is determined automatically based at least in part on revenue management information. A menu display is updated on an electronic display device such as a digital menu board to include the automatically-determined price.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,223,163 to Van Luchene, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a POS terminal or other computing device that provides a plurality of offers to customers, and then measures a performance rate of each offer. For example, the acceptance rate or the profit rate of the offers may be measured. Based on the performance rates, a subset of offers is selected. In one embodiment, the highest performing offers are selected. In another embodiment, those offers having performance rates above a predetermined threshold are selected. The selected subset of offers is then provided, while the remaining, less desirable offers are discontinued.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,099 to Walker et al., which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a POS terminal that determines an upsell to offer in exchange for the change due to a customer in connection with a purchase. The POS terminal preferably maintains a database of at least one upsell price and a corresponding upsell to offer a customer in exchange for the change due to him. If the customer accepts the upsell, the cashier so indicates by pressing a selection button on the POS terminal. The required payment amount for the customer to pay is then set equal to the rounded price, rather than the purchase price. Thus, the customer receives the upsell in exchange for the coins due to him, and the coins need not be exchanged between the customer and the POS terminal.
RetailDNA, LLC (West Palm Beach, Fla., USA) develops marketing solutions that provide cash registers with interactive advertising capabilities. RetailDNA markets the Visual Deal™, which uses a display at the front counter to offer customers an additional menu item in lieu of their coin change. The displays can also be used to present pre-order promotions, order confirmation, up-selling, and third party advertisements.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 9/603,677, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes techniques for offering a supplemental product or service to a user during a transaction at a POS terminal, either in addition to the products and/or services the user is purchasing or as a replacement to one or more of the products and/or services that the user is purchasing. The method may be implemented in a retail environment in which the user is purchasing products and/or services at a cash register or other POS terminal. The method may also be implemented in an online environment in which the user is purchasing products and/or service.